


Legacy: Hunter

by Master_Stabroek13



Category: Naruto, Supernatural
Genre: Demons, Gen, Ghosts, Lore - Freeform, This sort of character doesn't happen often enough in my opinion, Winchester style hunting, exorcist, ghosts are real, japanese myths and legends, psychic character, terminally ill MC
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-20
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-12-04 15:38:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11558232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Master_Stabroek13/pseuds/Master_Stabroek13
Summary: Psychics see some weird stuff, especially when they take up the hunting life. But no one really expects something as weird as waking up in excruciating pain in a world that belonged to a story you’d read. So what do you do when you're just waiting for your witchy ancestor to come rescue you? You start hunting, accidentally pick up an apprentice and mess up his intended timeline and manage to make more trouble than you thought you could.'Prime Directive, my ass,' you think as you survey your damage.There will be a bibliography at the end of the work of the sources I used to do my research. There are very few sources for detailed information on Japanese mythology that are in English and are published online. Hopefully you guys can use the ones I'll put up. I'll try to ensure that all of them are free sources that you can find online.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no claim to the copyrights of neither Naruto nor Supernatural. Don't sue.

 

.

I was dreaming.

I was in a great, dark forest. A place that was quiet and cold and that whispered deep inside my heart that I _shouldn't be here be here get out out now leave._ Something small and black flashed by me and scratched my leg.

A flash of bright light, a squeezing sensation across my chest and the feeling of being trapped surrounded me. I struggled wildly and squirmed my way out from under a burning wreck. My mother was trapped in there and I knew I had to get her out. I stepped toward the wreckage —and a burst of laughter froze my wobbly steps in place. Gibbering and shrieking in between those horrid giggles it continued, coming slowly closer. Closer and closer it crept, and I realized there was a high-pitched keening coming from somewhere nearby. It seemed to come from both the flames of the wreck and my own throat.

 

I didn’t know which scared me more, those giggles, or the sound. Tears began to stream down my cheeks and I tried to wrench myself out of my paralysis. All I wanted to do, all I could think about was running away as far as I could.

_Please please someone help me help me don't let it get me._

Warmth began to radiate from my right leg, sinking rapidly down under my skin. The flames rose higher, the mad laughter came closer and I trembled and keened in terror. Finally, I managed to turn around and saw it, saw flaming bits of stuff sloughing off and splattering on the ground about its feet as it leered at me, mocking the fearful moans I made.

I screamed... and was burning from the inside out. I was being consumed by fire. Pain not localizing but equally distributed around my body. I screamed... screamed and screamed and screamed and the creature screamed right along with me, the flames around us rising until we were both consumed.

Each and every nerve felt like it was being given special attention, immolated in gleeful flame. The creature staggered forward, still shrieking its head off and lunged towards me. Still paralysed with fear, I could only screech helplessly as it wrapped itself around me and added to the flames already searing my body from within. The fire began to move through me, not lessening, but as though it flooded through my veins in place of blood.

I began to beg someone, anyone, to make it stop. I cried out for my mother, my father, and somehow the pain slowly, delicately, began to fade away and soothing warmth crept in, cocooning me gently and pulling me sweetly into oceanic dark.

After that sometimes I surfaced dimly for a few seconds or a minute or so from that blackness. Once to the sound of concerned voices, another time to the feel of something damp and soft rubbing over my skin. This time I came to numbly in a bright light shining down into my eyes.

There was no place on my body that didn’t feel like it had been seared so badly that all sensation had been lost. There was a beeping noise coming from one side that I vaguely realized must be medical machinery. I lay there, dazed and in pain even when people came in and upon realizing I was awake, attempted to get me to talk, move, react in some way.

Ages passed. The pain and the numbness faded away until I could feel my body again. My skin became hypersensitive and nearly everything hurt. The next time they came, I waited, listened to the dead quiet until I was sure there was no one else in the room but me, and opened my eyes.

.

====

A bright white ceiling stretched over me, paneled and with an unlit light fixture positioned not directly over where I lay but slightly to my left. Shadows and beams of light played over the white surface and I turned my head to see where the light came from. There was a set of medical machines not very far from the bedside against the wall behind the bed. A small barred window was set in the wall to my left about two thirds of the way up, the sunlight gleaming painfully bright through the glass pane.

The wall to my right had one chart with characters that were too small to read but which were still identifiable as hiragana and Chinese characters, and a single door with a small glass window in it. The glass hadn't any bars, but I suspected that even if I’d had a grenade it still wouldn't be able to break that glass. The wall directly opposite my feet was bare and starkly white.

It occurred to me that I had been staring around the room and not bothering to see what I was doing lying down. I looked down the length of my body. From feet to waist a sheet was drawn up, my arms were resting by my sides, and above it I saw I was wearing a white hospital gown.

I tried to sit up, but a sudden wave of dizziness and nausea swept over me. I lay back quickly and swallowed hard and rapidly for a few minutes, trying to will myself not to vomit. My throat hurt slightly every time I swallowed.

When my stomach began to settle reluctantly I lifted my head again to look. Raising my arms carefully, tremors of weakness running through them, I saw an IV tube attached to the back of my right hand.

I raised one hand to the side of my head. There wasn't anything attached there. Lowering my hand again I cautiously squeezed my legs together. The resulting discomfort confirmed my suspicion that there was a catheter inserted. If there was a catheter inserted then I must have been there for some time, which then raised the question of how I got there and where, exactly, "there" was. My memories were a cloudy blur beyond the fever dream. But there was the vague impression that I’d been on a hunt at some point.

I clenched my fists in frustration. Were the kids at the house alright? And what about Melissa and Dad?

The door opening interrupted my train of thought, and a person in a long white gown with a badge clipped to the front pocket stepped in carrying a clipboard.

.

===

.

I watched her warily as she said a few words to someone outside and then shut the door.

"Good Afternoon, miss," she said, smiling gently. "I'm Doctor Kanami. How are you feeling?"

I didn't answer, just kept watching her as she moved towards the bed.  She checked the IV drip and nodded to herself as she scribbled something on the clipboard. Carefully I began to watch her aura.

"This is to keep you hydrated, and to keep nutrients in your body," she explained noticing my gaze on her hands. "You were unconscious for several weeks. We inserted a feeding tube, it's why your throat is a little sore." She sat lightly on the edge of the bed. "What's your name?" 

"Where am I?" I asked, or tried to ask. My mouth moved but no sound came out. 

She frowned and moved closer. "Are you all right? Let me see please." She reached for me and in a surge of adrenaline I scooted away from her to the other edge of the bed.

Dr Kanami sat still, with her hand still raised. "It's okay, I'm not trying to hurt you." I eyed her carefully. Sure _she_ wasn't trying to hurt me, but it didn't mean that she wasn't working for somebody who _would_. On the other hand, I was weak as a kitten and just as helpless. So if whatever she did made me stronger, then I might be able to get out of here, or try to get a message to my family.  I relaxed and let her check my throat.

She sat back and wrote on her clipboard again, and when I tried to get a glimpse she smiled and tilted the board so that I could see.

She was writing in Japanese. I frowned at the paper and lay back again, peering more closely at her aura.

"I'll be back in a little bit. If you need anything, call. There's an ANBU outside. He'll get you what you need." She stood up. "Try to get some rest ok?" She smiled again and went out.

I stared after her for a moment and then yawned. That burst of energy earlier had been more than I could afford; I wanted to sleep badly now. I lay back down and closed my eyes, the entire situation just seeming more and more bizarre with the information I was gathering from the doctor. Unfortunately I couldn’t do much about it at the moment. I didn’t seem to be in much danger, they were taking care of me and not trying to do weird sacrifices or anything of the sort so I might as well get a little rest.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no claim to the copyrights of neither Naruto nor Supernatural, don’t sue.

  
 

The light that came through the window was gone, only a black patch within the bars and borders of the opening. The light bulb shone brightly above. I squinted at it and turned my face away from the glaring light. Dr. Kanami looked up from her clipboard and smiled gently.

"How are you feeling?"

I squinted at her without answering. She frowned. "You still can't talk?" When I didn't answer she leaned over.

"Let me check your throat again, okay?" I nodded and she peered and squinted for a few minutes, aided by a penlight produced from a pocket of her coat.

"There isn't anything wrong with your throat, so you should be able to talk. It must be mental trauma then," she decided.

I have no idea what you mean, lady. I glared at her. What about amnesia, I thought acidly. How’s that?

"Do you think you're up for writing? There's someone who wants to talk to you."

I shrugged and nodded. Why not? Finding out more might help me find a way to get out of here. Dr. Kanami shuffled a few sheets on her clipboard around and handed it to me along with the pen, and then went outside. A big, scar-faced hulk of a man came in the door covered in dark clothing came in after her, along with two other people in matching uniforms.

The scar-faced man and the two guards... I wanted to laugh at first, until I got a good look into the big man's eyes. Suddenly the situation took on a whole new level of absurd seriousness. This was ridiculous, I thought. This should be impossible. I kept my eyes on him and brought out my aura, its deep purple vibrancy swirling around me and clearing my perception of the people in the room.

The man sat down in the chair Dr. Kanami had been sitting in. "I'm Ibiki Morino, from the Intelligence Section. Would you tell me your name please?"

I willed myself to relax, loosening my muscles slowly, evening out my breathing. Moderately calm again, I looked at Ibiki and waited. I rolled the pen between my fingers. Considering the written language barrier, I might have to use pictures to communicate with them. I couldn't talk, and I didn’t know hiragana anyway.

"Are you all right?" asked Ibiki.

I nodded.

"Can you tell me your name, please?"

_Diana_ , I mouthed slowly, exaggerating the syllables.

"Day-aana?" asked Ibiki.

I shook my head and formed the word again, making sure Ibiki could see how my mouth and tongue moved.

"Die-yana? That's your name?"

I motioned for him to speed up and mouthed my name again.

“Diana?” he tried once more.

I nodded at him. He'd gotten it right this time. 

"And your last name, Diana, can you tell me that?"

I nodded and mouthed my surname.

"Mat-yuuz?"

I tried again to make sounds. All I managed was a tiny squeak but Ibiki seemed to grasp the word.

"Mathews. Diana Mathews," he pronounced and looked at me shrewdly. "Why didn't you just spell it out?”

I shrugged and scribbled my name in English on the paper and showed it to him.

“A different language?” he asked.

I nodded.

“Then how did you get into the forest of death? It’s off limits to civilians of the village much less a visiting foreigner.”

I shrugged and tapped the side of my head. Honestly, I really couldn’t remember, except by this time I was sure that I had been on a hunt recently, and that something had happened then that sent me here, into what should only have been a manga that I read.

I looked thoughtfully at Ibiki. What was the probability of me ending up dead if I tried to communicate with him through my aura? Low? High? I guessed it might be around fifty-fifty but I might be able to convince him and lower my chance of injury or being imprisoned.

I began to draw, rather badly, on the paper again. I drew stick figures representing myself lying in the bed and Ibiki, sitting in the chair next to me. I showed it to him and he nodded slowly, not understanding.

Around my stick figure I drew a fuzzy cloud that circled the entire figure. Adding a little thought bubble to my figure I drew a tiny version of Ibiki. I showed it to Ibiki again and he stared from it to me expressionlessly. I smiled at him and added a little thought bubble next to Ibiki’s figure with a miniature me. Then under those I drew the figures again, this time holding hands without the thought bubbles and the cloud and I showed it to Ibiki.

He looked at it again, shaking his head. “I’m afraid I don’t quite understand what you want.”

I smiled and drew the figures again, this time my cloud circled both figures and the thought bubbles each had a Diana and an Ibiki inside. Ibiki stared at the sequence for a moment before he nodded.

“You can let me hear your thoughts?” he asked.

I nodded. In a way, that’s one of the things I can do with it, but at the same time it’s more than that being shared. I can let someone hear my soul, and vice versa. This way would be easier than trying to communicate with my shitty drawing skills.

“Alright,” said Ibiki. He turned to the door. “Inoichi, come in.”

The door opened again and a man also dressed in dark clothes but with incredibly long blond hair stepped in. He walked up to Ibiki’s side and looked down at both of us.

I held out a hand to Inoichi, looking toward Ibiki inquiringly.

“No,” he said, “I will be speaking with you. Inoichi will simply monitor the proceedings.”

The blond man placed a hand on Ibiki’s shoulder and relaxed his stance. His aura also flowed outwards to touch Ibiki’s.

Ah, well that was all right then. There would be someone able to verify that I had not, in fact, influenced or attempted to mind control Ibiki in any way. I held out my hand to him and when he wrapped his roughly scarred fingers around mine, I pushed my aura into his very gently. There was no resistance, only a feeling of patience and a quietly ferocious danger that was well tamed and quiet. In the background there was a watchful energy, composed readiness in waiting.

I pulled back into myself, drawing Ibiki with me and feeling Inoichi follow. I guided them back to the last memories I had, however blurry, of the events before the fever dream and waking up in the hospital room. Carefully, I took them further back, through memories of my life, avoiding the intimately private moments I would rather not show. I showed them my world that I had left, and finally, showed them my memories of their world as a manga series. Whatever ghost of a question rose in Ibiki I gave him an answer as completely as I could.

I drew them out and noted their twin expressions of shock. Inoichi recovered himself enough to remove his hand from Ibiki’s shoulder. Ibiki watched me for a moment, still with his fingers wrapped around mine, expression inscrutable.

“If you can allow us to see into your mind, can you then see into ours?” Inoichi asked.

I nodded.

“Did you?” He asked.

I nodded slowly and pushed my aura gently at Ibiki again. See, there was a huge problem here. We didn’t actually speak the same language. I had only understood Dr. Kanami because I’d been watching her aura and I saw what she wanted from me. But with Ibiki and Inoichi it was very different, and more complicated. I needed to be able to convey things that couldn’t be explained accurately without using words. I can retrieve and transfer memories, so when Ibiki had gone through my mind I had carefully filtered out the knowledge of their language and writing and absorbed it into my mind. I’d need some time to fully process and analyze it but I would be able to speak to them once my voice came back, and I could read and write if I needed to as well.

Ibiki released my hand and stood up.

“I must report to the Hokage,” he said, a disturbed expression on his scarred face. He turned to the door then hesitated. “Tomorrow there will be someone to see you. Get some rest.”

He turned again and left, Inoichi following him closely. When the door closed behind them both Dr. Kanami cleared her throat quietly. I turned to her. During the quick moments of my interrogation she had sat silently in the chair on the other side of my bed, making notes on a small pad she had fished out of one of her coat pockets. I assumed that she was either cleared with the ANBU or she was one herself, although an ANBU medical doctor seemed a little unusual without Tsunade around. But then who’s to say that I wasn’t currently in Konoha during Tsunade’s tenure as Hokage?

“Since you can communicate with us” she said, “The staff looking in on you will be informed.”

I nodded. I had no problem with that. The quicker I got out of here the quicker I could start looking for ways to get back home. The doctor stood up and tucked her notepad away.

“Are you hungry?” she asked.

I nodded enthusiastically. After doing something that likely to get me killed I was absolutely starving. I drew on the board again and held it up to her.

How about a sandwich?

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no claim to the copyrights of neither Naruto nor Supernatural.

 

_“Are you sure this is going to work?” asked the fairy as he stood nervously in the center of the spell circle._

_“Calm down, Calis. The spell is going to work. Bobby Singer’s legit.” Diana put the finishing touches on the spell circle and then gestured to her cousin, Melissa, who stood nearby holding a bowl of ingredients. Melissa handed it her and then stepped back, crossing her arms._

_Diana set the bowl down in front of her and looked over the circle of symbols carefully. Satisfied that they were properly drawn she nodded to herself and sat down in front of it, placing each hand on a different rune of the circle. She took a deep breath and then nodded to Melissa who unfolded a page she took from her pocket and began to recite an incantation. After several minutes a deep purple glow blazed from Diana’s irises. Melissa’s words began to flow together until she sounded like she was singing._

_Calis, tears in his eyes, watched the two hunters who had saved him as they poured their strength into the spell that would send him home. He was greatly indebted to them and their family from now, and a debt of this magnitude was nothing to be taken lightly for one of the fae folk. Calis glanced down happily as he felt magic begin to erupt from the spell. He frowned slightly. There was a strange red dot moving across the floor. Was it another fairy, he wondered as it slipped across to Diana, climbing up her body until it stopped on her forehead. A deep sense of foreboding washed over him as his entire focus narrowed to the dot on the hunter’s forehead._

_He sprang to his feet and threw himself at Diana as Melissa simultaneously finished the spell and saw Calis’s sudden movement. He knocked Diana over just as the magic completely burst forth and a burning pain exploded in his back. The circle glowed and then shattered, sending him and Diana flailing into blackness._

 

* * *

 

“Calis!” I shouted. I lurched upright from the pillows, gasping for breath. I remembered what had happened now: the hunt, calling up a hunter from the States by the name of Bobby Singer for a spell to open the door to the fairy realm, the attack on the house and Calis subsequently bowling me over and the spell blowing up around us. The faint crack of a rifle.

What happened to Calis? Why did he do that? What about Melissa? She had to be looking for us both by now. Everyone would be so worried.

I looked up as the door opened. Doctor Kanami came in, the pleasant smile she wore fading as she took in my agitated state.

“Doctor, was there someone with me when I was found?” I asked urgently. “A man, just a little taller than me, in dark robes. He had blond hair and I think he was hurt; he was shot in the back.”

She stopped in surprise. “You can talk now?” she exclaimed.

I nodded impatiently. “Please doctor, it’s important. Was he with me?”

 The doctor hesitated, half turning back towards the door.

 “Doctor?” I asked. I looked at her aura and knew. “He was, wasn’t he? Where is he? Is he alright? Can I see him?”

The doctor looked torn for a moment, as if she couldn’t decide what action to take but then seemed to arrive at a decision.

“I’ll return shortly,” she said, then turned and went out the door, lips pressed together in a thin line.

I scowled at the door as it shut behind her and lay back into my pillows in frustration. I lay there and glared at the ceiling for another hour, trying to imagine what could have happened to Calis and if he had been injured, or had had a hard time with the ANBU.

As my tension began to rise it started getting hard to breathe and I began to gasp lightly. I broke out into a sweat and started trembling slightly. I’d had anxiety attacks before. I knew how to calm myself down, although I’d feel like shit the rest of the day. I closed my eyes and started taking deep slow breaths, trying to slow my breathing.

This will pass, I told myself. You saw the doctor’s aura. You know Calis is alright. Slowly, the fear lessened until finally I could breathe without puffing for breath. The trembling was almost gone when I opened my eyes. At the foot of my bed stood a man dressed in a nurse’s uniform, with dark hair and extraordinarily bright green eyes. When he noticed me looking at him he started, jumping back a little.

“Ah, I’m sorry. Good afternoon,” he blurted.

“How did you get in here?” I asked. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

“I, well, that is, you looked like you were asleep and I thought-”

I sat up straight and released the full force of my aura at him. “Thought what, exactly? That you’d possess me in my sleep?’

The man shrank back in fear, his form beginning to flicker as he prepared to disappear.

“Wait!” I called. I stopped channeling energy and extended my hand to him. “Please, I won’t hurt you. You don’t have to leave. But standing and watching someone sleep is not advisable even if you’re dead and people generally can’t see you.”

The flickering around him slowly died down as he stared at me. I kept still, lowering my hand to the sheet when it became too tiring to hold up. Eventually he relaxed, straightening up and stepping hesitantly toward the bed.

“I’m sorry,” I apologized again. “It was a reflex. I’m a hunter, and usually ghosts are things I destroy but you don’t seem to be a normal ghost.”

I settled back into my pillows as the spirit came to stand by my feet.

The spirit shook his head. “My name is Numa,” he said. “I’ve been a ghost for about twenty years now.”

“How did you die, Numa?” I  hid a yawn with my hand, glancing again at the door.

“How did you know I was a ghost?” he countered.

I glanced at him in surprise, then chuckled. “Touché.” I propped the pillow up behind me and leaned back.

“I can see people’s aura, the energy that leaks from their souls. I know what they’re thinking and what they’re feeling. If you know how you can get to know everything about a person from their aura.”

“And what’s a hunter?”

“It’s the family business. We’re hunters. We find and destroy monsters, and save the people they want to hurt. We’ve come up against ghosts, demons, ghouls, vampires, stuff like that. So you’re not the first ghost I’ve seen but you are the most unusual.”

Numa crossed his arms and stared intently. “And why am I so unusual?” he asked.

I shrugged. “Ghosts typically don’t exist for as long as you have without going insane and attacking people. So, you’re not a normal ghost.”

Numa lowered his gaze, staring at the floor instead. “I know,” he murmured softly. “I’ve seen enough of them since I’ve been…like this.”

“So how did you die? Maybe we can figure out why you’re still around.”

He stood up and wandered over to the window, peering outside. “Before I died I was a doctor. A medic, you know?

 “I died trying to stop one of my patients from attacking my colleagues. The woman was a kunoichi who had been infected with a genjutsu and tortured on a prior mission. I don’t know what she experienced but something we did must have set her off and she went berserk, lashed out at the nurses and was about to kill the other doctor before I intervened. She hit me in the chest with something and everything went dark. I woke up a few days later and realized no one could see me.

For a while I wandered around and tried get people’s attention and let them know I was still here but no one saw me so I eventually gave up.”

“At first I was just hanging around to make sure that my colleagues were safe,” Numa continued, “And that nothing else was going to happen. Then I realized that I wasn’t disappearing. I tried to, I didn’t want to haunt the place but then there was a little boy who was in a coma and somehow left his body. He was crying and trying to get his parents attention and his vital signs were dropping so quickly I had to do something. So I tried to calm him down and convince him somehow to go back into his body. He wouldn’t take any notice of me and the monitors were starting going off and I may have freaked out a bit.”

He raised his hands in front of him and turned to look at me. “I don’t know what happened but…I had my hands on his shoulders and I was so frustrated –and then suddenly I felt like I’d poured all my chakra into a high level jutsu and there was a blinding light and then the little boy was waking up and all the monitors and the lights were going off. I had no idea what happened.”

I looked thoughtfully at him. Well, that was unusual.

“It happened a few more times since then. First with the kid, then a woman in labor and then several shinobi I knew before I died.” He glanced at me. “When the Nine Tails attacked there were so many people I wore myself out so much I nearly disappeared. I …it felt like I passed out but when I came back –so to speak- the people were less and then I found out I’d been asleep for years. Ever since then I’ve been helping people like the ones I saw.”

I nodded sympathetically. “It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?” I said gently. Numa didn’t answer, just sighed quietly and gazed unhappily at the floor.

“Well,” I said finally. “I suppose you could drop by if you wanted to, as long as I’m here. I don’t really have anything else to do all day. Company would be nice, if you’re interested.”

Numa looked up in surprise. “I wouldn’t want to disturb you,” he demurred.

“Honestly, I really wouldn’t mind if you visited me. And since I haven’t introduced myself, my name is Diana Matthews. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Numa.”

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no claim to the copyrights of neither Naruto nor Supernatural.

 

****

Two weeks later and Dr Kanami stood again in my room, this time to discharge me from the hospital and into Genma’s care. The week before our host had come to meet with us to begin preparations for our stay. The discussions had gone rather well and thankfully Calis seemed to take to Genma better than he had to Ibiki. Genma waited by the door as Calis helped me into the wheelchair the hospital let me borrow to get to the house. I was instructed to stay off the leg for at least three more weeks. Genma led us through the hospital as Dr Kanami went to make the rest of her rounds.

I looked around as we went. It was a little disappointing that Numa hadn’t come back to see me, and during my therapy I hadn’t seen him around either. He must have been scared off by Calis’s presence. The fairy tended to do that. His aura was bright white and purer than snow, and whatever wasn’t attracted to it was repulsed. So far during my three weeks in the hospital I’d dealt with four wandering spirits who had tried to attach themselves to Calis and one monster I’d seen feeding off of the soul of a patient in a coma. Hospitals tended to be a hotspot for small time spirit activity with the odd demon cutting deals or monster trying to feed. Even in a different universe I was still hunting. It really was true that once you’re in this life you never get out.

Genma led us through the village to his house. This early in the morning it was still quiet. Most of the shops were already open but there were very few customers. At that hour the streets were full mostly with people on their way to work. In the distance there was a shout.

“You little brat! When I catch you you’re gonna pay for all of this!” An echoing clang rang out in response.

Oh boy. Naruto started up this early in the morning? Impressive dedication, I had to admit. Though that might be a little unfair. There probably were other kids who were also tiny whirlwinds of chaos. On his own Naruto would class as a hurricane.

Genma simply clicked his senbon between his teeth and carried on. As we walked he pointed out places like shops and pharmacies and restaurants. There was a surprisingly large bookstore not too far from the hospital. In the display window there were several bright orange paperbacks.

A sudden burning desire erupted in my chest. I was going to _find out_ EXACTLY what was in those little mysterious volumes if it was the very last thing I did in this new world. What kind of writer was Jiraiya anyway? E. L. James or Anne Rice? I had to know, so I resolved that at the earliest opportunity I would ask Genma if he could find me a copy of the first volume somehow.

 

* * *

 

 

Genma’s house was small, with sparse furnishing which had the effect of making the small space seem larger than it was. I had a very small room near the back of the house that I would share with Calis but with the fairy’s unusual sleeping patterns there wouldn’t be much of a problem with sharing space. The room looked into a small yard barely the size of the kitchen but it was home to a tiny mandarin orange tree and a very scraggly rosebush that looked more stubborn than a mule. That bush must have been there for longer than our host had been alive, I decided.

After we had got settled in as much as we could, given that neither I nor Calis had anything at all of our own Genma made an early lunch and afterwards sat us all down for a briefing on what would be our cover story for being in the village and why he was hosting us. Calis sat quietly near the window looking out into the backyard and cradled a steaming cup of tea between his palms.

“We’ve decided to stick with your actual occupation,” he said to me, “Although instead of hunter you’re an exorcist. Exorcists do exist here but I’ve never heard of them battling actual tangible monsters. I’m hosting you because someone asked for help and I happened to know of you. I contacted you, agreed to host you while you were in the village, and you traveled here. Unfortunately, on the way you and your companion were attacked by some rogue ninja and you were injured. An ANBU patrol found you and brought you back to the village. Incidentally, there is someone I know, a civilian, who claims that they’re being attacked nightly by a demon with horns and red eyes, so there is a case for you to handle to make the whole story true.”

I smiled. “That sounds quite solid. And if there turns out to be a real case? What will happen if I do resolve it? Also, does anyone but the Hokage know I’m here and…all the rest of my story?” Carefully I watched his aura. Interestingly enough, it seemed he had been given a full briefing on me by the Hokage, including an explanation of my knowledge of this world.

Genma looked steadily at me for a moment.

“No one,” he answered slowly, “but Lord Hokage, myself and the rest of the guard, the ANBU team who found you, your doctor and Ibiki Morino and Inoichi Yamanaka know of your existence in this world. The ANBU who found you have been put on security detail for you when your convalescence is over and you can go out.”

He paused for a moment, seemingly gathering his thoughts. “On another topic, you don’t have chakra, even the civilians in this world have chakra but you don’t even match them. Every shinobi around you will notice, without a doubt. Dr Kanami will work something out before your recovery period ends. In the meanwhile, she took your measurements for me while you were in hospital but Calis will have to come with me to get clothing for him, if he needs them?”

Genma looked questioningly over at the fairy. Calis came over to the table and set his teacup down by my elbow. What was left of the tea looked thick and lumpy, and its previous pale green color was now a murky grey.

“I do not require clothing. What I am wearing is enough,” he told Genma.

“Alright,” Genma agreed. “Since you’ll be stuck inside for at least the next three weeks is there anything you’d like to occupy yourself with? So you don’t get cabin fever. Any hobbies  -for either of you?”

I thought about it. Most of what I liked to do utilized the internet, which was a no-go here where it didn’t exist. At least not yet it didn’t, so all that was left was journaling and, my new goal: assessing Jiraiya’s writing skills. An unholy glee rose in me. If the fandom could see me now, they’d flip their collective shit.

“Could you get me about five journals and the Icha Icha series?” I asked. “All hunters keep notes of their hunts and there really isn’t anything I can do without particular resources I had in my world, and I’ve always been curious about those books. Are they really as good as their reputation? Or are they the equivalent of our Fifty Shades of Gray?” I looked intently at Genma.

“I saw some copies in the window of the bookstore as we passed and honestly, it’s a bit of a burning question I’ve got.”

Genma shrugged. “Alright, clothes, notebooks and porn. Guess you’ll be set for the next three weeks then. Calis, do you want to come with me or do you want to stay?”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no claim to the copyrights of Naruto and Supernatural.

****

The good doctor did indeed find a way to hide my alien lack of chakra from the rest of the world. It was quite unpleasant but it worked perfectly. I would take chakra stimulants at the beginning of every week, which some ninja with low reserves took while training. These pills helped their bodies to build stamina which in turn generated physical energy through training. In my body, which did not have a chakra system, it would boost my physical energy until it appeared to match my spiritual signature. This would hopefully prevent me from being singled out by most ninja.

There were side effects from the pills. The excessive amounts of physical energy made my body temperature high enough that I was running a low fever quite frequently. They also made me ravenously hungry. It was probably a good thing Calis didn’t eat food and that Genma lived alone. Although Calis’ way of eating was to draw the essence out of food until it was nothing more than a congealed grey mess, he didn’t do it more than twice a week. The rest of the time it was just me and Genma and my constant snacking. Sandwiches are truly a perfect food.

The morning of the day my recovery period was over Genma handed me a sheaf of papers as I sat at the kitchen table eating a sandwich.

“These are the notes on the case we found for you, and of several other reports that we received when the individual divulged the information to their friends.”

I took the papers in bemusement and leafed through them. “Who on earth are they reporting these to?”

“The mission desk, apparently. The chuunin have tried explaining that you don’t work for the village but they refused to take no for an answer.” He sat down across from me. “There were mentions of substantial payments, and a few unusual ones too.”

“Unusual payments?” I repeated. “Like what?”

“Swearing total loyalty to your family, offering children as apprentices, that sort of thing. And there was one family who offered a family heirloom as payment.”

I shook my head in surprise. “Wow. Usually hunters don’t get paid for this stuff but if someone offers we don’t say no.” I spread the papers out in front of me.

“You don’t get _paid_?” he asked in amazement. “Why?”

“…well for starters, the general population of the world doesn’t know what hunters are -and that monsters are real. As kids they believe in the monsters under the bed and in the closet and they’re scared of the dark but as they grow up and nothing happens to them they lose that belief and move on with their lives. Only when something attacks them, or they see something they can’t explain but they know it’s real do they understand that the scary stories are true.”

I found the case that had offered the heirloom and began to read over the notes.

“Also, hunters are on the wrong side of the law. Often the monster or the individual will have a human identity and when we kill them and if we can’t dispose of the body, or if we get caught somehow, the police or the authorities will run their investigations and pin the murders on the hunter and the hunter in turn will either be arrested or have to run from the law. This whole situation here,” I waved my hand in his direction, “This is the first time I’ve actually worked with the authorities in hunting.”

Genma was staring at me in mild astonishment when I glanced up at him. I sighed and set down the papers.

“My world has moved beyond belief in the supernatural and monsters that lurk in the dark. We believe in science and technology and medicine; stuff like that is what most of the world dreams of. Religion still exists but it will have to fall in line eventually because if not - and this is my personal opinion, someone else might tell you differently- it will stagnate in its current way and their followers will be left behind because the more they advocate against the advancements being made and then cry out that they’re being discriminated against or their faith is being disregarded because they’re not getting access to those advancements even though they refuse to use them and they consider them blasphemous the more they will be cast out of society and the faster it will die.”

This time he looked mildly disturbed.

“Too much?” I asked. “I’m sorry. Bring up religion in a conversation with me and it’s bound to go off the rails.”

He nodded slowly. “Alright,” he drawled. “Moving on from that, if you feel up to it, Calis can take you out tomorrow. He’s been getting along well so far. He can show you around and point out some of the places.”

As if saying his name had summoned him from the veil Calis materialized in the kitchen doorway. He padded over to the table and dropped something on the table in front of me, a silver necklace with a pendant depicting the World Tree of Norse Mythology.

“I remembered you and Melissa were wearing matching necklaces. After I saw you again in the hospital I noticed you didn’t have it, so I went back to the forest to see if you’d lost it there, and I was lucky enough to find it.”

 As I stared at the necklace, a single thought occurred to me.

_“I’m an idiot.”_

I reached out and picked it up, gathering my crutches and thumping out to the tiny garden. Genma and Calis trailed after me in puzzlement but didn’t ask questions. In the middle of the garden in the warm morning sun, I balanced on my good leg and dropped my crutches. I held the pendant up to the sun and began to channel my energy, the ambient energy from my surroundings and as much of the energy from the light that beamed onto the tiny silver tracker as I could fit into the metal.

“Calis,” I called urgently, “come here!”

He hurried over and looked at me inquiringly. I held the pendant out to him, still channeling the energies.

“Calis, the pendants Melissa and I wear are linked. They’re trackers, so if one of us is missing we can find each other. I don’t know if it’ll work this far away but I need you to activate the spell on it. It only needs to be activated once, and after that it will act like a beacon and send out a signal as long as I’m wearing it. Hopefully she’ll figure it out and come find us and we can get home.”

Calis looked from my face to the pendant, and then reached out and placed his hand over it. The necklace burned with an icy heat which faded quickly into a quiet coolness. I slipped the chain over my head and tucked it under my shirt. I sighed in relief and rubbed my temples. I heard Genma come down the steps behind me and pick up my crutches.

“Listen, kid,” he said as he helped me rebalance on them, “you gotta start warning people before you do stuff like that. It makes me nervous when you just randomly hold things and start pouring energy into them.”

“Sorry, I’ll make sure to give you a warning if I can next time.”  I turned to head back into the house. “Anyway, I just hope the tracker will work and Melissa will find us soon.”

I sat down at the table again and picked up the heirloom case. Something about it was setting off alarm bells in my head. Why would someone offer an heirloom as payment? Out of desperation or something else?

 

**Author's Note:**

> Bibliography:
> 
> Translation as ‘Bakemono’: Shapeshifters of the Meiji Era; (1868-1912) Daniel J. Wyatt
> 
> Japanese Demon Lore; Noriko T. Reider; reidernt@miamioh.edu
> 
> http://obscuritan.blogspot.com/
> 
> narutopedia
> 
> http://www.medbherenn.com/faerie-lore.html
> 
> yokai.com


End file.
